Fiscal reformer

He is known as the Lazarus of Irish politics because of the numerous comebacks he has managed over his long career. He is currently at a career high-point – ironic given that he is the finance minister of a country bailed out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. But Michael Noonan’s career has had significant lows, including his pursuit of a dying woman through the courts while minister for health and the decimation of his party, Fine Gael, soon after he became leader.

At 68, Noonan has left the talk of Lazarus behind. People are now looking to him as a Moses who might be able to lead them to the promised land of jobs and growth.

It will not be easy. Ireland may be hitting the right buttons on its bail-out timetable in terms of reducing its deficit and bringing in reforms, but the broader eurozone crisis is threatening the good work. Talk of a two-speed eurozone, and French and German meddling in smaller member states’ domestic politics has irked the veteran politician. At home, significant cuts have to be made to public spending, and with his first budget looming – on 6 December – Noonan may be about to face the first public backlash since his honeymoon period began in February, when he took over the finance portfolio.

Over the past few weeks he has had a taste of public discontent. An estimated 20,000 students took to the streets to protest against moves to increase university fees, while a government minister resigned over plans to close an army barracks. With cuts needed of €3.8 billion in the upcoming budget, more anger is expected.

Noonan is used to not being the people’s favourite. He was a thorn in the side of various Fianna Fáil-led governments while an opposition spokesman on portfolios as diverse as finance, education and transport. His no-nonsense, clear presentation in the Dáil has marked him out as a serious politician able to rise above the tribalism that often marks Irish politics. “He is a highly intelligent, shrewd and very honourable politician,” says Willie O’Dea of the opposition Fianna Fáil party, a former minister and Noonan’s constituency rival.

After a failed bid to wrest the leadership of the centre-right Fine Gael from John Bruton in 1994, Noonan was appointed minister for health when the party entered government later that year. His tenure was marked by revelations that blood products that had been given to women who were at risk of having ‘blue babies’ – babies with a heart malformation – were contaminated.

Thousands of women had contracted Hepatitis C as a result, and when one woman, Bridget McCole, brought a case against the state, Noonan fought her all the way. “It was a bad decision and badly handled,” says Kevin Rafter, author of a book on Fine Gael, “The road to power”.

The case would return to haunt Noonan soon after a successful bid to oust Bruton as leader of Fine Gael in 2001. During the following year’s general election campaign the issue refused to go away. “It hung over him and kept coming back. He found himself apologising repeatedly,” says Rafter.

Fact File

Curriculum Vitae

1943: Born, Loughill

1967: Degree in English and economics at University College Dublin; starts work as a secondary school teacher

1974-81: Councillor, Limerick County Council

1981-: Member of parliament

1982-86: Minister for justice

1986: Minister for industry and commerce

1994: Failed attempt to oust Fine Gael leader John Bruton

1994-97: Minister for health

2001: Fine Gael party leader

2002: Resigns as party leader following disastrous general election result

2010: Opposition spokesman on finance

2011: Minister for finance

Noonan also surprised party colleagues by failing to be the inspiring leader they expected. “He is the classic example of a good number two. He aspires to be leader but the attributes required are very different,” says Rafter.

He was also fighting a losing battle in trying to wrest power from Fianna Fáil, led by the popular Bertie Ahern, at a time when the country was scaling the dizzying heights of the Celtic Tiger boom. “The election was unwinnable. Probably one of the biggest mistakes Michael Noonan made was that he looked for the leadership of Fine Gael at the wrong time,” says O’Dea.

The 2002 election was a disaster for Fine Gael, which dropped from 54 seats in the Dáil to just 31. Noonan resigned immediately, making way for the current leader (now prime minister), Enda Kenny.

Great things had long been expected of Noonan. His talent was spotted by Garret FitzGerald, the then Fine Gael leader, soon after he was first elected to parliament in 1981. When Fine Gael took power the following year, Noonan was made minister for justice. He brought in reforms of the police and courts, and revealed that the previous Fianna Fáil-led government had illegally tapped the phones of journalists. His intelligence and patience have meant that no leader of Fine Gael has been able to ignore him for long.

Noonan showed his political experience last year when some of Fine Gael’s prominent politicians tried to oust Kenny as leader. Noonan never declared his allegiance publicly, but is understood to have struck a deal in return for his supporters voting for Kenny in a vote of confidence. When Kenny survived, Noonan was brought in from the political wilderness and made opposition spokesman on finance.

His tough, aggressive image has softened over the years. Last year he appeared on a television programme to discuss his wife Florence’s Alzheimer’s disease and its effect on him and his five children. His emotional description of the difficulties of being a carer put him in a new light for many.

He follows the Munster rugby team and enjoys reading and swimming. “He is a taciturn individual, full of sardonic humour,” says Bernard Durkan, a Fine Gael party colleague of Noonan’s for the last three decades. He is said to enjoy the political satirists who see him as an obvious target, given his deadpan delivery and heavy Limerick accent.

As finance minister he has impressed people with his grasp of the portfolio. “He has a very good knowledge of the issues in his department and he is very good at anticipating what is coming down the line,” says Durkan.

But the true challenge for Noonan will be whether he can get the public to tolerate the inevitable cuts. “The real test will be when he sits down after making his budget speech,” says Rafter. “This will be based not on the detail of the budget but how the speech is crafted and whether he can bring people on the journey to recovery over the next number of years.” If he fails, not even a Lazarus-style miracle will save him or his government.